August 09, 2026
• Rev. Mindie Moore
Run It Back: Imago Dei
Genesis 1:26-27
August 9, 2026
Today we are beginning a new series called Run It Back. As you might know, the Senior Pastor of St. Luke’s, Rob Fuquay, will be retiring in 2027. And as we’ve been planning out what we want to preach on as he prepares to retire, this was a series that we were really excited to work on together.
We’re taking five of the most important Scriptures and sermons Rob has preached throughout his ministry and we’re creating messages for the moment that we’re in right now. These are passages that are sort of timeless, that seem to speak to no matter what the situation of the world is, and that show us some really important things about who God is.
And today, we’re starting at the very beginning—literally. We’re starting in Genesis, with a story of Creation, and a concept that is absolutely foundational to what we believe about God’s relationship to humanity AND our identity.
So as we start, I want you to think about that really quickly: (SLIDE) What makes up your identity? And I want you to turn to the person next to you and just share a couple quick things from the list in your head. (My introverts, please forgive me, and remember this is not a regular practice!)
There are so many different pieces of our lives that we can name as contributing to our identity and how we see ourselves. Many of my identities revolve around the relationships I carry—things like wife, mom, pastor, neighbor, friend, cousin, granddaughter. All of those things matter a lot and shape who I believe I am.
And what Genesis 1 wants us to know is that beyond all those things we named, there’s another core piece of our identity, one that lays the foundation to everything else we believe about ourselves and other people. One that has nothing to do with anything WE have accomplished or any labels we’ve worked hard to acquire. Just a simple true fact of how God has created humanity.
It’s this phrase (SLIDE): Imago Dei = Image of God
It’s the understanding that you, me, and every other person who has ever walked this earth is created to be a reflection of God. And that is both comforting and empowering AND it challenges us in how we approach the people around us and the world that we inhabit.
Before we unpack that idea, I think it’s helpful for us to understand just a bit more about Genesis and the creation story specifically. I know that I spent MUCH of my formative faith years being taught that these stories were to be taken literally. That true Christians believed in a 7-day Creation narrative and that a scientific conversation couldn’t even enter the picture. And I can remember having these long, drawn-out debates about the really granular pieces of Genesis—like how did Cain find a wife? How did these people stay alive long enough to populate the earth? Were they just hanging out with dinosaurs? Trying to fit the story of Genesis into all these logical questions really hurt my brain and kind of just frustrated me. And it made me wonder—if we weren’t going to take it literally, could we do anything with this part of scripture at all? Or should the whole thing just be written off and set aside?
This is where I want to remind you that we can take the Bible SERIOUSLY even if we don’t take every piece LITERALLY. Because this part of Genesis, it’s not meant to be a history or science textbook...but it absolutely is meant to help us know some crucial things about our God. It’s not a fairy tale—it’s an ancient story, first told in a context that’s incredibly different than ours today, that serves as a reflection of God’s heart and a way to make sense of the absolute mystery and wonder that is our Creator.
And in truth, the ancient Israelites weren’t the only people who were trying to do that. Most cultures have a version of most of these stories: creation, some kind of conflict between people and the gods, even a flood narrative. They were stories that were passed down through the generations as a shared understanding of the divine.
But there are some very unique pieces to what the Genesis story has to say. Because the way that Genesis portrays the relationship between humans and God...is pretty different than some of these other narratives. In Genesis, there is ONE God, working alone to create all of these pieces of the universe. In many other cultures, there are a variety of gods, often at conflict with each other.
Another important difference, and this is where we will really focus in on today, is that in Genesis, humans are created to be in relationship WITH their Creator. In Peter Enns and Jared Byas’ book Genesis for Normal People they say this: (SLIDE)
[Genesis] does not sound like other creation stories of the ancient world. In the Babylonian creation story, humans are not made in God’s image. In one story called the Epic of Atrahasis, humans are created as an afterthought to do the grunt work the gods are too good for or are simply too lazy to do. The elevation of humans as a whole, male and female, to the level of divine image-bearer is an ancient Israelite comment on human equality. Genesis for Normal People p. 35
So people, according to Genesis, are divine image-bearers. And the use of that phrase “Imago Dei” is purposeful and has all sorts of meaning to it. Because “Imago Dei”, in that time, would have been a royal term that was used to talk about people like a pharaoh or king, and it would describe someone who was considered to be a divinely appointed representative of the gods in that particular kingdom. It was a lofty, hierarchical term.
But the Creation story told in Genesis takes this idea and flattens all the hierarchy out of it. It’s gone! And NOW, this idea of being a sacred image-bearer for God, for someone HOLY, is no longer reserved for kings or people of status. It’s for EVERYONE.
And when it says, “’male and female’ he created them in his image”, I don’t think that’s put in there to make a point against our nonbinary or trans siblings. I’ve heard it used that way, but again...the context is different. I think in THIS context, telling the story like this, explicitly referencing women...a group who had ZERO autonomy or identity or power...is actually very much on purpose creating a more expansive view of WHO can reflect the image of God.
This very simple few lines of Scripture end up being a powerful witness to how God sees and includes every single person in God’s story. From the most powerful to the most humble and vulnerable...every single person reflects God’s image. If we want to know what the Image of God looks like...we just have to look around! It’s in the person next to you, it’s in the neighbor down the street, it’s in the immigrant on the news, it’s in the family at school you don’t really know what their deal is, it’s in that person you don’t really like.
And reading Genesis with that understanding in mind leads us to this powerful and spiritually transformational question: (SLIDE) What does it mean for us to live like we carry the Imago Dei? Basically—what do we do with this information?! It’s great theology, but how do we LIVE it?
Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, says that the Imago Dei means we live our lives holding two important things: Goodness and Responsibility. Now, goodness is a key theme of the Creation story. As you read through it and see each piece of Creation that is made, you hear this repetitive phrase: God made...and saw that it was good. Over and over, we hear that—It's good, it’s good—God is pleased with the world that’s taking shape.
But things change once humans are created. Because, and we touched on this just a bit a couple of weeks ago, but this is where the narrative changes from things being “good” to being “VERY GOOD.” It’s a whole new level of delight that God experiences once humanity comes on the scene.
And the WAY humans are created is different too. For the first five days God speaks all of these things into existence. God said, “Let there be light, land, waters, creatures, plants…” It’s this image of things springing up all around, coming from somewhere beyond God.
But when it’s time to create PEOPLE, it’s deeply personal. God says, “Let US MAKE.” Let us create something that only can come from the divine, let’s be deeply involved with this piece of creation. This is active and intentional to create something beloved.
When I was in London, I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and there was this long hallway of Sculptures, (SLIDE) most by the famous sculptor Rodin. And as we walked through this hall, I was just blown away and honestly a little overwhelmed by the DETAIL all around me. It was hard to imagine how a person could take a block of marble and create something so lifelike and nuanced. Thinking about how much care and time would have went into creating these forms was kind of daunting. It made me think of the level of love and passion and absolute dedication he would have needed to have to make these creations.
That’s the image I have when I think of how Genesis is portraying God creating humans in this Scripture. It wasn’t quick and simple. Because these humans are meant to be something special. They are meant to reflect God in the midst of every created thing. The Imago Dei means we are created in the image of perfect goodness. And that was true back when these stories were first being told and it’s true for us today. This is one of those true things about God and God’s relationship to us that is absolutely timeless and that we can hold on to.
It’s true even when we struggle to believe it about ourselves. Even if the world around us says something very different. During World War II, our government rounded up Japanese residents, many of whom were citizens in our country, and placed them in Internment Camps. We had been bombed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor and there was a great deal of fear that Japan may have placed spies in the US. Instead of seeing our Japanese neighbors as bearing the image of God, they were seen as people to feared. Sometimes the people put in these camps lost their homes and possessions. It’s a very dark part of our history that deeply harmed a lot of people.
(SLIDE) George and Jean Umemura were two people placed in an internment camp in Idaho. They met, married, and eventually settled in Indianapolis and joined St. Luke’s. George died several years ago and Jean will turn 100 in December.
George once shared with our pastoral team how hard that experience was for him, because of the fear and shame he lived with. He said when he looked in the mirror all he could see was the face of the enemy. That was the narrative he had been told about himself day after day and he so wished God could make him look different. Why was this his identity?
What started to change things for George was meeting a group of missionaries who wanted to do whatever they could to help the people living in these camps. They DIDN’T believe the fear—they held on to the Imago Dei that was present in each of the people who were there. After war they got to know George and helped him get a scholarship to Ohio Wesleyan University. It was a scholarship that changed his life. Because not only was he able to get a degree and a job, but it was at Ohio Wesleyan that he also discovered faith.
His faith helped him discover who he really was and what he could build his life around. Not shame or wishing he was different. But that he was absolutely created BY God, to bear God’s image, and that he was deeply loved, exactly as he was. That his identity was good and that he could have true peace about it, despite what he had lived through.
Your identity is rooted in GOODNESS, no matter what you’ve been through. No matter what anyone has said about you. And holding on to that truth, BELIEVING that you are made in the light of goodness, that’s what God wants for every single one of us. Because you, you, you...we are all God’s beloved, very good creation.
AND, this goodness that God has declared over each of us...this means we are also given a sacred responsibility to live out.
Look at what God said about humans, right after declaring the goodness of being created in the image of God: (SLIDE)
“God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (1:28)
God has named these humans as being EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD...and now they have a really important task in front of them. A task that we still carry today and a task that I think we are meant to take so very seriously. Because if we are going to be people walking around, bearing the image of God, the creator of us and this world we inhabit, then we have a holy, sacred, and CONCRETE call to take care of it. That means take care of the place, take care of the people, take care of the resources, take care of the spiritual needs, take care of whatever presents itself to us.
I just wonder what could change in our world if all of us who claim to follow God would let this idea of Imago Dei, of goodness and responsibility, be a foundation of our theology. Because it seems like any of the “isms” or any of the things that get in the way of us truly loving other people God has created...those things don’t stand a chance when you put them next to something as powerful as the image of God. All the ways we’ve constructed to other and dehumanize people...those things can’t possibly hold up in the face of the Imago Dei! The way we’ve prioritized profit and just taking whatever we want from our planet over truly taking care of the world we inhabit? This creation story reminds us that there is a better way God expects us to live.
Mary Oliver says we have “one, wild, precious life” and when I think about that in relation to the Imago Dei, I think about how we have one, wild, precious time to be part of some good and beautiful and holy work. There are a million reasons NOT to be part of that work. It’s so easy to just be cynical and say things are the way they are, oh well. But when we hold on to the Imago Dei, when live out of a place of GOODNESS AND RESPONSIBILITY, that’s when the shifts start to happen. That’s when God’s hopes for us start to take root. That’s when we get to see the faithfulness of God up close and personal, and when we get to be part of that work.
Let’s pray.